quickest route for wife to get her documents

[nickgoldie 0]

My naturalization case is pending and i will get the interview letter within 2 weeks, which means that my oath should be in December(optimistic case).

My girlfrind is here in the US on a tourist visa.

1. If we get married now we have to file an i-130 for her and she have to wait 3-5 years for a visa. However, when i become a citizen we will be doing a change of status? How long would it take for her to change her status again from i-130 to i-485?

2. Do i just wait to become a citizen and then marry her?

I am asking because i want her to have health insurance and we need a marriage license. Do we get married now and we process her documents and later on change her status again, because i am a citizen?

Or do we just wait for me to become a citizen?

I want to make sure that she will not be waiting 3-4 years for her documents after i become a citizen.

[Anh map 2,098]

Check with your health insurance provider regarding exactly what they need. She will not have a green card for several months (maybe Spring at the earliest) no matter what you do.

[n4th4ly4 9]

My naturalization case is pending and i will get the interview letter within 2 weeks, which means that my oath should be in December(optimistic case).

My girlfrind is here in the US on a tourist visa.

1. If we get married now we have to file an i-130 for her and she have to wait 3-5 years for a visa. However, when i become a citizen we will be doing a change of status? How long would it take for her to change her status again from i-130 to i-485?

2. Do i just wait to become a citizen and then marry her?

I am asking because i want her to have health insurance and we need a marriage license. Do we get married now and we process her documents and later on change her status again, because i am a citizen?

Or do we just wait for me to become a citizen?

I want to make sure that she will not be waiting 3-4 years for her documents after i become a citizen.

as far as i know, from this VJ forum, if u married ur girl right now, then u filed her petition I-130 F2a. after u get ur Citizenship, u call USCIS or NVC to upgrade ur petition F2a to IR-1 and so her visa number will immediately available. no need to wait for loong loong years of suffering .. i suggest u to read other threads from this VJ, there's lots of good information for u to learn.

Good Luck.

[nickgoldie 0]

thanks for the prompt reply!

My concern is that once she comes here on a tourist visa and gets married they can do smth during the application process.

Is there a rule f thumb how many day syou need to stay here legally(tourist visa) before she gets married?

I also talked to the health insurer and they told me that all they need is a marriage certificate.

What might be the consequences for a tourist who is entered the US legally(tourist visa) and gets married within a month?

[Anh map 2,098]

There is no "waiting period." Entering the US as a tourist with the intent to immigrate is against the law.

Is it done? Yes Are there risks? Yes Rare worst case scenario is a ban / denial.

[n4th4ly4 9]

There is no "waiting period." Entering the US as a tourist with the intent to immigrate is against the law.

Is it done? Yes Are there risks? Yes Rare worst case scenario is a ban / denial.

YUP! the worst case is your wife will be ban or denial petition, if USCIS knows she married in US and get medical certificate first before get her Green card.

my best suggestion is, get married in some other country. file her petition I-130 F2a, get your oath, upgrade her petition to IR-1, when she arrived in US then u can start to register her for insurance. dont take a risk. based on ur case, wait time maybe less then 1year still be save than put all the risk married her in US and right away give her insurance.

during waiting time period, she can visit you as tourist as long as she is not over stay. if my hubby has same cases like you, i will do the same. unfortunately my hubby oath still 3years more. and i dont have tourist visa, so, nothing i can do but just wait all the process patiently.

Gudluck..

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

She's in the US now, correct? At the time she entered the US, did she intend to remain rather than leave, and become an immigrant? That's the scenario Anh Map is talking about. It's called preconceived intent, and it's illegal. If she entered the US with the intention of leaving when she was supposed to then you can proceed. The US government understands that people's plans change, but they don't like it when someone plans in advance to circumvent the normal immigrant visa process.

It will be much simpler if you wait until you become a US citizen, since it sounds like you don't have much longer to wait. When you get your certificate of citizenship then go ahead and marry her, and then file both the I-130 and I-485 at the same time. The process is described here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=i130guide2

[nickgoldie 0]

thanks for all your input.

Last question i promise:

Lets say we get married in October and my citizenship oath is in December.

Once we get our marriage license do we need to apply for a status change on her behalf or can i wait until December and submit her documents when i am already a citizen?

In other words do you immediately need to apply for a change of status of your spouse after a marrigae certificate has been issued?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

thanks for all your input.

Last question i promise:

Lets say we get married in October and my citizenship oath is in December.

Once we get our marriage license do we need to apply for a status change on her behalf or can i wait until December and submit her documents when i am already a citizen?

In other words do you immediately need to apply for a change of status of your spouse after a marrigae certificate has been issued?

It will be less complicated if you just wait. You can file an I-130 for her as an LPR, but you can't file an I-485 unless there's a visa number immediately available and she's maintained her non-immigrant status. The visa category for the wife of an LPR is F2A, and there won't be a visa number available for three years based on the current visa bulletin. However, the visa category for the wife of a US citizen is CR2, and there will be a visa number available for her immediately. If you wait until you're a US citizen then you can file the I-130 and I-485 at the same time.

There's no time limit to apply for change of status. However, the rules are different for immediate relatives of US citizens and immediate relatives of LPR's. An immediate relative of an LPR must maintain their non-immigrant status in order to be eligible to adjust status, in addition to a visa number being available. An immediate relative of a US citizen can be out of status and still be eligible to adjust status. This is yet another reason to wait.